I want to thank the people at Gates Ventures and Breakthrough Energy who helped make How to Avoid a Climate Disaster possible.
Josh Daniel is an invaluable writing partner. He helped me express the complexities of climate change and clean energy as simply and clearly as possible. If this book is as effective as I hope it will be, it is largely due to Josh’s skill.
I wrote this book because I want to encourage the world to adopt effective plans for dealing with climate change. In that effort, I could not have better partners than Jonah Goldman and his team, including Robin Millican, Mike Boots, and Lauren Nevin. They provide me with essential advice on climate policy and on strategies to make sure that the ideas in this book will have an impact.
Ian Saunders led the creative and production process with all the ingenuity I’ve come to count on from him. Anu Horsman and Brent Christofferson designed the charts—with expert help from Beyond Words—and picked the photographs that help bring this book to life.
Bridgitt Arnold and Andy Cook led the promotional effort.
And Larry Cohen managed all this work with his usual calm and wisdom.
The team at the Rhodium Group, led by Trevor Houser and Kate Larsen, was extraordinarily helpful. Their research and advice are reflected throughout this book.
Thanks also to everyone on the board of Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Mukesh Ambani, John Arnold, John Doerr, Rodi Guidero, Abby Johnson, Vinod Khosla, Jack Ma, Hasso Plattner, Carmichael Roberts, and Eric Toone.
Jabe Blumenthal and Karen Fries are the two former Microsoft colleagues who organized my first learning session on climate change in 2006. In that session, they introduced me to two climate scientists, Ken Caldeira—then at the Carnegie Institution for Science—and David Keith of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Since then, I’ve had countless conversations with Ken and David that have shaped my thinking.
Ken and a team of his postdoctoral fellows—Candise Henry, Rebecca Peer, and Tyler Ruggles—pored over the manuscript line by line to check for factual mistakes. I’m thankful for their meticulous work. Any remaining errors are my responsibility.
The late David MacKay of Cambridge University inspired me with his wit and insights. I recommend his phenomenal book Sustainable Energy—Without the Hot Air to anyone who wants to dig deeper into the subject of energy and climate change.
Vaclav Smil, a professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba, is one of the finest systems thinkers I have ever met. His influence on this book is particularly evident in the passages on the history of energy transitions, and in the errors he helped me avoid.
I’ve been lucky enough to get to meet—and learn from—a number of knowledgeable people over the years. Thanks to Senator Lamar Alexander, Josh Bolten, Carol Browner, Steven Chu, Arun Majumdar, Ernest Moniz, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Henry Paulson, and John Podesta for being so generous with their time.
Nathan Myhrvold gave me thoughtful feedback on an early draft. Nathan never hesitates to tell me what he really thinks, a quality I always appreciate, even when I don’t take his advice.
Other friends and colleagues kindly took the time to read the manuscript and offer their feedback, including Warren Buffett, Sheila Gulati, Charlotte Guyman, Geoff Lamb, Brad Smith, Marc St. John, Mark Suzman, and Lowell Wood.
I want to thank the rest of the team at Breakthrough Energy: Meghan Bader, Julie Barger, Adam Barnes, Farah Benahmed, Ken Caldeira, Saad Chaudhry, Jay Dessy, Gail Easley, Ben Gaddy, Ashley Grosh, Jon Hagg, Conor Hand, Aliya Haq, Victoria Hunt, Anna Hurlimann, Krzysztof Ignaciuk, Kamilah Jenkins, Christie Jones, Casey Leiber, Yifan Li, Dan Livengood, Jennifer Maes, Lidya Makonnen, Maria Martinez, Ann Mettler, Trisha Miller, Kaspar Mueller, Daniel Muldrew, Philipp Offenberg, Daniel Olsen, Merrielle Ondreicka, Julia Reinaud, Ben Rouillé d’Orfeuil, Dhileep Sivam, Jim VandePutte, Demaris Webster, Bainan Xia, Yixing Xu, and Allison Zelman.
I’m grateful for all the support I get from the team at Gates Ventures. Thanks to Katherine Augustin, Laura Ayers, Becky Bartlein, Sharon Bergquist, Lisa Bishop, Aubree Bogdonovich, Niranjan Bose, Hillary Bounds, Bradley Castaneda, Quinn Cornelius, Zephira Davis, Prarthna Desai, Pia Dierking, Gregg Eskenazi, Sarah Fosmo, Josh Friedman, Joanna Fuller, Meghan Groob, Rodi Guidero, Rob Guth, Diane Henson, Tony Hoelscher, Mina Hogan, Margaret Holsinger, Jeff Huston, Tricia Jester, Lauren Jiloty, Chloe Johnson, Goutham Kandru, Liesel Kiel, Meredith Kimball, Todd Krahenbuhl, Jen Krajicek, Geoff Lamb, Jen Langston, Jordyn Lerum, Jacob Limestall, Abbey Loos, Jennie Lyman, Mike Maguire, Kristina Malzbender, Greg Martinez, Nicole MacDougall, Kim McGee, Emma McHugh, Kerry McNellis, Joe Michaels, Craig Miller, Ray Minchew, Valerie Morones, John Murphy, Dillon Mydland, Kyle Nettelbladt, Paul Nevin, Patrick Owens, Hannah Palko, Mukta Phatak, David Phillips, Tony Pound, Bob Regan, Kate Reizner, Oliver Rothschild, Katie Rupp, Maheen Sahoo, Alicia Salmond, Brian Sanders, KJ Sherman, Kevin Smallwood, Jacqueline Smith, Steve Springmeyer, Rachel Strege, Khiota Therrien, Caroline Tilden, Sean Williams, Sunrise Swanson Williams, Yasmin Wazir, Cailin Wyatt, Mariah Young, and Naomi Zukor.
I’d like to thank the team at Knopf. Bob Gottlieb’s early support for this book helped make it happen. Everything you’ve heard about his brilliant editing is true. Katherine Hourigan shepherded this book through every phase of editing and production with skill and grace. Thanks also to the late Sonny Mehta, Reagan Arthur, Maya Mavjee, Tony Chirico, Andy Hughes, Paul Bogaards, Chris Gillespie, Lydia Buechler, Mike Collica, John Gall, Suzanne Smith, Serena Lehman, Kate Hughes, Anne Achenbaum, Jessica Purcell, Julianne Clancy, and Elizabeth Bernard. And thanks to Lizzie Gottlieb for introducing this project to her father.
Finally, I want to thank Melinda, Jenn, Rory, and Phoebe; my sisters, Kristi and Libby; and my dad, Bill Gates Sr., who passed away during the writing of this book. I could not ask for a more loving and supportive family.